US slams release of Taliban suspects as 'deeply regrettable'

The United States has labelled Afghanistan's release of 65 detainees as "deeply regrettable" after the US warned they posed a serious security threat.

The move is likely to inflame already strained US-Afghan ties as the international mission in Afghanistan winds down.

Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said the prisoners had been released from a detention facility near the Afghan capital, Kabul, and would be sent back to their respective home areas throughout Afghanistan.

The US military has said the men should be tried in Afghan courts.

"Detainees from this group of 65 are directly linked to attacks killing or wounding 32 US or coalition personnel and 23 Afghan security personnel or civilians," the US military's leadership in Afghanistan said in a statement on Wednesday.

The US embassy said: "The Afghan government bears responsibility for the results of its decision. We urge it to make every effort to ensure that those released do not commit new acts of violence and terror."

The detainees have become one more issue fuelling tension in US-Afghan ties, as foreign troops, who have been in Afghanistan since 2001, steadily withdraw.

The Obama administration has been pressing for months for Afghan president Hamid Karzai to sign a bilateral security agreement with Washington that would allow some American troops to stay beyond the end of this year.